At
it's furthest reaches, it's about as far as you can get from Beijing
and still be in China. It shares international borders with Russia,
Mongolia, Kazakhstan, Krygyzstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikstan, Afghanistan,
Pakistan and India. It also has internal borders with Inner Mongolia
and Tibet. There are very few Han Chinese people about (the majority
of Chinese people are Han). Most people look like terrorists.
Is that politically incorrect? Cos I can remove it if it is offensive.

It
is a largely Muslim area so keeping Kosher was not difficult at
all. There was no pork, but lots of lamb. There weren't many vegetables
but lamb is great 3 meals a day. And they have this tough bread
that really compliments a mutton soup in the morning.

Very
few people speak English in Xinjiang. And some don't speak Chinese.
Many of those that do speak Chinese speak only marginally better
than me. That made communication relatively simple.... kind of.
In one small town no one understood the words for bus station.
I tried every different regional accent I knew, but we just got
funny looks. It was the first time in China I truly felt language
difficulties.

Blah
blah blah... let's cut to the chase and get to the pictures.

This
is the road to Charbagh's Tuesday market.

This
the beauty salon. Men only.

This
one of many parking lots.

This
is another

And
this is the pharmacy. Or tea shop. I'm not sure.

This is by Lake Karakul, quite close to Krgyzstan and
Pakistan.

This Subash, a small Kyrgyz village near the lake.

This is the restaurant. The girl's grandmother sounded
like a small bird. There was a surprising number of people in Xinjiang
who sounded like birds.